Barriers to Access

The RSN campaigns to help rural residents overcome multiple access barriers to key services which includes poor transport and broadband.

Hot Topics

15 Jan 2018

Poor social mobility in rural areas

Many of the places where people from disadvantaged backgrounds are least likely to make social progress are rural areas, notes Brian Wilson. Shortly before standing down the Social Mobility Commission published its...

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12 Jan 2018

Post offices given community status

Some 3000 post office counters have been designated “community branches” as they deliver services to rural residents, says the government. Business minister Andrew Griffiths was responding to a parliamentary written question about...

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11 Jan 2018

Rural views sought on community rail

RURAL residents are being urged to respond to a Department for Transport consultation on community railways. A community rail line is a railway supported by a local partnership giving local...

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04 Jan 2018

‘Travel hubs’ to connect rural villages

Three villages could become “rural travel hubs” to improve rural transport in Cambridgeshire. The pilot hubs, to be funded by the Greater Cambridge Partnership, will be travel interchanges tailored for...

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03 Jan 2018

Rural homes ‘face higher fuel bills’

Government green energy proposals could force up rural heating bills, claim oil companies. Almost one million rural households in England and Wales could see their heating bills soar if new...

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01 Jan 2018

Rural families spend £3k more on essentials

Rural households spend about £3000 more per year than their urban counterparts on essentials, suggests a study. Inflation when it comes to goods and services in rural areas is also...

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27 Dec 2017

Rural residents fear fuel poverty

Crippling fuel bills mean many rural householders are too scared to put their heating on. More than three in ten Britons – many of them in rural areas – are...

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22 Dec 2017

Rural cash machine fears rejected

The UK’s biggest ATM network has rejected claims that changes in its fee structure could result in the widespread loss of cash machines in rural locations. LINK has been consulting...

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21 Dec 2017

Faster broadband to be legal right

Everyone in the UK will have a legal right to broadband speeds of at least 10Mbps by 2020, the government has announced. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport...

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15 Dec 2017

Million homes lack decent broadband

MORE than 1 million homes and businesses still lack decent broadband – especially in rural areas, says a report. Further action needed to improve broadband and mobile coverage for 1.1m...

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